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Intro to Fall Term Lab:
Classically Conditioning a Salivary Response in Dogs
ClassicalConditioning
+Labs: What to Expect
Eight lab sessions
You will work on an ongoing experiment using virtual dogs in a computer program
You will collect and graph data from this program
At end of term, an abbreviated lab report based on this experiment is due
+Grade Breakdown
Attendance: 5%
Lab Report (including graphs): 7.5%
Total Lab Value: 12.5% (per semester)
+The Experiment:Classical Conditioning of a Salivary Response in Dogs
What does this mean?
How will we study this?
What are we looking for?
+Classical Conditioning:What does this mean?
Leads to a stimulus eliciting a response that does not naturally occur because of that stimulus
Done by pairing a stimulus that does cause the desired response with a neutral stimulus, until the neutral stimulus alone triggers that response.
An Example
+Key Words
“Conditioned Stimulus” (CS)
The neutral stimulus, that before conditioning does not naturally bring about the desired response
In our experiment this is a bell ringing
+Key Words continued…
“Unconditioned Stimulus” (US)
The stimulus that naturally evokes the desired response
In our experiment this is food pellets
+Key Words continued…
“Inter-Stimulus Interval” or “CS-US Interval”
Amount of time between the presentation of the
Conditioned and Unconditioned stimuli
+Key Words continued…
“Unconditioned Response” (UR)
The response rendered by the presentation of
both CS and US (bell and food)
In our experiment this is salivation
+Key Words continued…
“Conditioned Response” (CR)
The response rendered by the presentation of the CS (bell) alone
This is the same as the UR; what differs is the cause of it
+Key Words continued…
“Acquisition Trials”
Pairings of the CS and the US
In each of these trials the bell is presented and then the food is given
+Key Words continued…
“Extinction Trials”
Presentation of the CS without the US
Ringing the bell but no longer giving any food
Leads to a decrease in the response
+Classical Conditioning Overview
1) US -> UR
2)CS + US = UR
3)CS -> CR
+Our Experiment:How will we study this?
We will be manipulating 4 variables As we vary one, all others stay constant
1) Number of Acquisition Trials Varying the # of pairings of the bell and food
• This will vary 3 times
2) Conditioned Stimulus Varying the loudness of the bell (in decibels)
• This will vary 3 times
+Our Experiment continued….
Manipulating….
3) Unconditioned Stimulus Varying the number of food pellets given
• This will vary 3 times
4) CS-US Interval Varying the length of time between the
CS and US • This will vary 3 times
+Our Experiment:What are we looking for?
By varying each of those independently we will find:
The optimal number of pairings of the CS and US when classically conditioning
Optimal decibel level for a CS
Optimal number of food pellets to use as US
Optimal length of time to allow pass between presenting the CS and US
+Our Experiment
What is optimal?
How will we determine which variations are best?
We will measure the average number of drops of saliva secreted by the dogs
Assume that more drops of saliva are an indication of a stronger association/better learned response
Saliva Stronger Conditioning
+Conducting the Experiment:The Computer Program
Where is the program?
Click on My Computer Apps on Caesar (S:)
Double-click the ‘Psych210’ folder• Double-click on the ‘cc’ icon
On all campus computers
+Inside the Program
You will be asked the same 7 questions every time you run a trial:
Experimenter’s Name: Type your first name (Hit Enter after each entry)
Number of Subjects to be Tested: Always type 4
Number of Acquisition Trials: This will vary
+Inside the Program continued…
Number of Extinction Trials: Always type 50
How intense the CS will be in decibels: This will vary
How strong the US will be: This will vary
How long the CS-US interval will be: This will vary
+Inside the Program continued…
After you answer those 7 questions:
The program generates data based on your answers
Lists your trials and the measured drops of saliva for each
It asks you to press 1 to copy this file to your H: drive
Press 1 and hit Enter
+Inside the Program continued…
Immediately open your H: drive and locate this file
It will be named ‘CC’
Right-click on this and Rename it
Otherwise each new trial will replace the previous one.
+Inside the Program continued…
To start a new trial, press F2
This will begin the process all over again
For each experiment, you will be told what values need to be entered for each question
+Understanding your Data Files
Will see 5 columns of numbers broken into Acquisition Trials and Extinction Trials
Acquisition above, extinction below
The first 4 columns= the 4 individual dogs How much saliva Dog 1, 2, 3, 4, produced at each
trial
The last column to the right is the most important
+Understanding your Data Files
The last column of numbers= the average number of saliva drops the 4 dogs produced for each trial
Just those numbers are needed to make your graphs
Graphs will be made in Excel How-To document can always be accessed on my
website www.stfx.ca/people/jlayes
+Graphing your Data:Creating and Interpreting Figures
The graphs will show you:
The mean drops of saliva produced over acquisition and extinction trials
You will be able to see how the variations you made to one of the variables affected the saliva produced over trials
+Graph example
+Next Week:
You will run 3 experiments in the program
Manipulating the number of acquisition trials 10, 30, 50
Produce 2 Graphs One for Acquisition data (last column from top
portion of your 3 data files) One for Extinction data (last column from
bottom portion of your 3 data files)
+Lab Instructors:Contact Info
Please contact us with any questions
Dr. Ed Pencer Janea Layes
[email protected] [email protected]
Annex 104 Annex 114F
www.stfx.ca/people/epencer www.stfx.ca/people/jlayes